Transition 3.0 Update

 The main news in the Transition 3.0 ruminations is the ongoing focus on what our next big travel paradigm (take that MBA'S 'paradigm' Ha!) is going to look like. 

We started this conversation prior to the last election as the pandemic was beginning to rage and the rage in our country was at its highest. Both Wife and I could see having a U.S. passport as a distinct limitation on where we could travel. Plus we were just tired of the constant vituperation in the political discourse. We were introduced to the Golden Visa concept by Daughter #2 which allows you to buy permanent residency in a country. If that country was in Europe, it meant you could stay there permanently and travel to any of the 26 countries included in the Schengen treaty. 

We started to do serious research on a move to Greece. The goal was to have another travel experience but one based on staying mostly in one place. Plus it opened the opportunity to do shorter travel (in time and distance) to many places we had not been to.

Fast forward, the election ended up changing for now the political discourse and that pressure is nowhere near as great. As we did more and more research on what it would be like to live outside of the U.S. for three to five years, we realized that at our age, some of the challenges might be a bit much for us. But a bigger issue is that Wife still has a significant back issue that is alleviated by pain control injections four times a year. If we lived in another country, how would we deal with that.

We also found that the idea of being in Europe in the winter, even the Mediterranean winter was not that appealing. We were thinking of wintering somewhere else like in Southeast Asia. This led to a different concept. what if we were out of the country for 2 months at a time to a place that we were returning? Say one stay in the Med area, one in Southeast Asia, and one in a place to be named later. The key point being finding places that we liked going back to, maybe even finding rentals we could go back to, so we would get a chance to get more and more familiar with the areas we were selecting. Then we could adjust our timing so we were getting the medical care we need when back in the U.S. 

Nothing is off the table yet. The biggest thing we need is for the world to open up! As soon as that happens, we will be out and researching on the ground!

All Dressed Up And Nowhere To Go

 I am fortunate that I have been able to get the vaccine and not just one but both of the Pfizer shots. Like all of us, having lived the last year in a state of fear of contact, of withdrawing from all normal living activities, part of me just wants to go and do something!

But, then you hear that there are new variants and who knows how they will be affected by the vaccine. Plus you could still be a carrier. And (at least in my case) I have gotten out of the habit of being with people. I mean I am basically a hermit at heart. The pandemic has only reinforced a lot of my anti-social behavior traits. 

Both Wife and I (she got her shots as well), then were all excited about the prospect of traveling somewhere (as are many others). But where can you go? Most of the world is closed down to travelers.

So we find ourselves theoretically in much better shape to open up but in reality not really being anywhere different than we were before.

What Transformation Looks Like

 Want to know what the effect of a program like Theodora Africa has on people? Below is a Bio Capsule written by one of our participants for a presentation she and a colleague are doing this summer.

I was born and raised in Akwatia, Eastern Region in the West African country of Ghana. I am the Fifth of seven children.

I came home from Middle School one day to find my parents had divorced and I was now forced to live on my own. I became pregnant and had a son, things became tough and I moved to the city of Accra and spent years living by my wits, doing things to make money to get by, I would never have imagined. I didn’t see any future for myself. However, I had the great fortune to meet the founders of the Theodora Africa Project. They saw potential in me and selected me for the program.

Today, I am the marketing and sales representative for Theodora Ghana Virtual Assistants. I have virtual business calls each day in the United States. I write proposals, make sales and help clients with our consultative approach so they get the most out of the virtual assistance work we do for them. I have a steady income. I know I am a professional and I can see a future where many more opportunities will come my way. 

This is what this program is all about.

You're Fired!

You can't fire me! I quit!

 My days as caregiver/driver/chauffeur have come to and end.

Wife had her six week post-op meeting with the surgeon today. He said no more sling. Yes you can drive. Do what you would normally do but within limits as you still have many months to build your strength back.

This means no more my having to take her to every PT session twice a week. Or to any other appointment she might have. For the sake of the Great Maker, she even did part of the dishes after dinner today. Seriously, I don't want her to push it too much and relapse. But as she says, if you baby thing and aren't trying to get back to normal, you extend the time it takes to recoup. 

On another note altogether, Wife conveniently forgot to tell me that her surgeon is this absolute stud! I am thinking he is going to be this innocuous usual doctor type. No. He is tall, dark, incredibly handsome. He looks like he could be the cover model for a romance novel, you know the ones with the guy and the long hair. Wife insists she chose him strictly for his operating prowess. I will say the dude knows his shoulder anatomy. He gave us this detailed explanation of the operation using a model of the shoulder.

All kidding aside, Wife is as tough as nails and determined. She is way ahead of schedule on her recuperation. Go Wife!

Who's On First

I am in the process of the final interviews of the first official hire for the Theodora Project in Ghana, a local manager. My volunteer team has done a spectacular job. We had received over a hundred responses over two weeks. They quickly winnowed those down to a dozen candidates. They did the initial interviews and skills screening until I was presented with the final three to select from. Hiring is not something I have done much of during my career. But as one of colleagues pointed out, I have interviewed tons of folks to be sub-contractor/strategic partners for my consulting and hundreds of people who wanted to join the networking group I formed. So it is not that I have not done any interviewing. 

Nonetheless, this is a pretty key hire so I reached out to a number of my former strategic partner colleagues for assistance. It has been most valuable. One thing they cautioned me is to go slow and to be thorough. It has been sound advice. We are now in our second week with my having interviewed each candidate twice. Without the advice I mentioned, I might have made a choice after the first week. But things have changed substantially during the second week. It has reminded me of an old, old comic routine done in the 1940's and 50's by Abbott and Costello. 

After the first round of interviews I had a definite 1st, 2nd, and 3rd candidate. However during the second week, my #2 candidate did a great second interview and moved up to #1. My former first candidate dropped back to #2. Then, I did the second interview of #3. She really impressed. She moved up. In the meantime my now #2 who had been #1 before, dropped out not liking the pay offered. My new #1 who had been #2 before I have not heard from since Tuesday. I suspect she is agonizing because she likes the job but it is a lot less money that she is making. So now former #3 may be my new #1. 

Got that straight!

I am not sure I do.

Fusion Fried Potatoes

 In this episode, we will see how the use of a Southeast Asian flavoring can turn simple fried potatoes into something kick butt.

The star of our show

Yes! Our dear friend Cambodian style Onion Paste

I discovered this application of its use totally by accident. I was making leftover soup but wanted to add potatoes which were not previously cooked. I was intending to use the onion paste as a base for the soup. So I decided to cook the potatoes in the oil infused with the onion paste. The rest, as they say, is history.

Preparing

Butter, Olive Oil and Onion Paste

Onion paste has totally been incorporated into the oil

Add the potatoes

Cover and cook until done with the potatoes nice and crisp

You can take the cover off for the last few minutes 

 The beauty of this dish is that the potatoes have a wonderful salty, onion flavor with no other flavor added with the exception of some black pepper at serving.

It is ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL that you serve these potatoes with a quality French Burgundy such as a Pommard as below.

Actually it is not essential at all. But is nice if you have it!

First Banana Bread

 I do very little baking. Actually I have done virtually no baking over my cooking life. This is because baking, particularly bread baking, is considered Wife's area of competence. When one suggests one would like to consider trying their hand at baking, let's just say one is not 'encouraged'.

Wife baked a bunch bread before she went in for her surgery. But we have worked our way through it and we have both had a hankering for something home baked. Thus it was that I was finally brought into the mysteries of the bread baking cult. After a week of purification in a remote sweat lodge subsisting only on French Roast Coffee, Smoked Salmon, Imported Mangoes, and Whole Paychecks Prussian Rye Bread with Imported Irish Butter, I felt sufficiently cleansed to undertake Wife's rigor.

One does not undertake a leap like this haphazardly. There is intense training. As in, "The recipe is there, in the cookbook. Follow it." Aye, Aye Mon Capitaine!

As it turns out, you can't get much easier a recipe than this one from an ancient Betty Crocker cookbook. You essentially take all the ingredients, put them in a bowl, mix them, put them in oiled and floured pan and bake. The whole process (once you've sourced everything you need) is about 30 minutes until cooking.

My Finished Product

It was a little on the dry side. I think I cooked it just a couple of minutes too late. Also because of work commitments, I left it out on the counter to dry too long as work things interfered.

Nonetheless, the flavor was good. Here I am using the sweetness of the bread to off-set the heat of Eggs with Red Chile Pork